Family

Treat Mom like a queen

Family

Treat Mom like a queen

We asked you to tell us what you really want, and don't want, for Mother's Day. So far almost 1500 mothers have bared their souls. According to you, your loved ones can't go wrong with a spa day, breakfast in bed, dark chocolate, dinner out and family time.

Here is a selection of your wish lists:

Wake me with a kiss.Make me breakfast.If you want to go fishing take me with you.No cleaning. No dishes. No dirty looks.Hold my hand in public.Order in a pizza for the kids and take me out for supper with wine.Take me dancing and keep me out late.Rub my back and whisper love poems in my ear.Susan from Rose Bay, N.S.

What to do: Spend little money and engage in thoughtful planning. I would suggest ensuring that I enjoy an early morning massage, followed by the opportunity to sleep in while my partner deals with my energetic four year old. I would suggest that they occupy their morning making breakfast which is eaten on our deck. Once I have had a long bath and breakfast is cleaned up, we head out on a day hike on the beautiful west coast of Vancouver Island, preferrably Mystic Beach, a rainforest trail, complete with a suspension bridge culminating at a magnificent pebbled beach.

What not to do: leave planning to the last minute where a scramble to find a "Mother's Day brunch" results in disappointment and obvious disregard for this most special day. Naomi from Victoria, B.C.

1. Dinner out with all the kids at my favourite Viet-Thai place.2. Homemade cards and poetry from the kids highlighting what a fabulous mother I am!3. Reassurance that my mothering will 'grow' great adults who are confident and compassionate.Laura from Cambridge, Ont.

I love when my husband traces my kids' hands in the card he gives me and every year I am reminded of just how fast they grow up!Natacha from Blumenort, Ont.

Please let me sleep in, and when you do wake me, I would love a tray of coffee, croissants and fresh fruit. A nice BBQ for supper would be lovely. And of course, hugs and kisses all day long (and maybe some chocolate!)Gwen from Georgetown, Ont.

Don't leave dishes in the sink.Give me lots of HUGSCoffee on in the morning.Just spend a quiet day with me.Janet from Vernon, B.C.

Get to sleep in, the kids are quiet, NO COOKING or CLEANING or WASHING all day long, no lunches to make, Brunch out and LOTS OF DARK CHOCOLATE !!!!! Ahhhh, heaven.....M. from Toronto

Please... no household appliances or I might have to use them on you.Alda from Winnipeg

My two girls, ages 8 and 10, answer these questions with the following advice: What to do: 1. Give your mother as many hugs and kisses as you can.2. Plant some new flowers in the garden for her.3. Take her out for dinner and order her favourite meal.4. Massage her back and neck.5. Read to her, play all her favourite songs, sing her a song.What not to do:1. Don't feed her too much candy.2. Don't misbehave3. Don't wake her up in the morning.Mary Lou from Mississauga, Ont.

I would like my husband to take our two girls out to breakfast and let me sleep in as late as I want. I'd like a day at a spa to have a massage and manicure. Then I'd like to go out for a wonderful dinner with my whole family to celebrate all the wonderful mothers in the family.Nadia from Sault Ste. Marie

I would love to tell my husband and two children (ages 6 and 4) NOT to purchase me a Mother's Day Card. The best card I could ever receive is one that has been hand-crafted with love from all of them!Maria from Brantford, Ont.

My wishes are simple and easy. Just make dinner for me; it needn't be anything too extravagant, I'd even settle for a hot dog on the barbecue. My only stipulation - please clean up when you're finished cooking. Mother's Day is no treat when Mom has to do the clean-up!Julie from Clinton, Ont.

I would like a hand written note from each child telling of some positive impact I had made on their life...what more could you ask for?Gail from Granville Ferry, N.S.

Here are more ideas for Mother's Day shared by our web visitors:

TIME - to do the little things we often put aside like paint our toenails or have a bath, read a magazine without interruptions or take a walk in nature. I would like a permanent plant - a tree or shrub planted in my garden for Mother's Day - to watch grow and think of my sweet little ones while they grow too!Juliana from Manotick, Ont.

everyone sleeps inbreakfast in bedmassageno arguing all dayTamara from Ottawa

To start the day I'd like to have my breakfast made for me (doesn't have to be served in bed). If the cat has upchucked during the night, clean it up rather than walking around it pretending it's not there! An afternoon movie then dinner out would be a nice way to end the day.Dianne from Edmonton

As strange as this sounds, on Mother's day I would like to forget I am a mother. I have two children, 9 yrs and 9 months, and all I am these days is a mother. I would like to just be Patricia for a day. I would like to get up when I wake up, have a leisurely breakfast and do what I would like to do that day. Not have to wake up to a baby screaming, make breakfast for everyone, and plan my day around naps, lunches, school, etc. That is what I would like for mother's day.Patricia from Red Deer

There's one thing I would love on Mother's Day: A clean house - for the entire day, and I wouldn't need to remind anyone, yell or do it myself!!Cheryl from Lachenaie, Quebec

Just love, lots and lots of love.Cheryl from North BAttleford, Sask.

Don't wake me up early. Spend the day with me without fighting with your brothers. Make me a card , don't buy one.Sherry of Guelph, Ont.

As a mother of two and a grandmother of five, the Mother's Day experience is not new to me. I would tell my daughter and daughter-in-law to enjoy their status as mothers and put that career ahead of any other. The investment you make has the sweetest of all rewards - the love and respect of your children. Celebrate your children on Mother's Day and tell them how much you love them and how happy they have made you. Margaret from Brampton, Ont.

Do the middle-of-the-night feeding AND the morning feeding. Don't bring the baby into bed to do it. Sleeping in would be a dream.Anne Marie from Courtice, Ont.

Power tools! I love to look through the Canadian Tire book, and the weekly circulars, and ooh and ahh over tools!! Flowers are great, don't get me wrong, but tools are a gift that keeps on giving!!Cheryl from Lachenaie, Quebec

No FlowersNo Store bought cardsWould love:Spa certificateHand-made craft you did with the kidsHome-made cardJoyce from Mississauga, Ont.

Start the day off with a "Mommy Sandwich:"1 part Mommy, 2 parts Children, 1 part Daddy. Generously topped with hugs, kisses, and a lot of love!!David from Newmarket, Ont.

Dinner at a nice restaurant is what I look forward to most. I don't need flowers or gifts - but having raised four children, that calculates out to 18 years x 4 = 73 x 365 meals = 26,645 meals - I don't feel guility at all having a Mother's Day dinner on them. Jean from Burlington, Ont.

Have mom awake to a bedspread of rose petals and a piping hot cup of coffee. Make it a stress-free and fun day -- including fresh flowers, a pamper package of either gift certifcates of willing hands to massage tired legs & feet, and a simple home cooked meal (complete with clean up). A note telling her why she's your favourite mother would always be welcomed!Karen from Ridgeway, Ont.